The Russian Woodpecker is a 2015 documentary film written, produced and directed by Chad Gracia following Fedor Alexandrovich's investigation into the Chernobyl disaster. It is Gracia's directorial debut feature. The film premiered in the "World Cinema Documentary" competition at 2015 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2015 and won the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the festival.Synopsis
The films focuses on Fedor Alexandrovich's research into the cause of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine and its potential connection to a Soviet Cold War-era structure, the Duga over-the-horizon radio antenna. His investigation is interrupted and impacted by the 2014 EuroMaidan uprising, which eventually led to the ouster of the pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych.